Juárez police stop Guatemalan migrants from crossing river into US

First responders on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have recovered at least three bodies and rescued seven people who were swept away by currents in the Rio Grande.
Wochit

A group of Guatemalan migrants were stopped at the banks of the Rio Grande in Juárez before they attempted to cross into El Paso on Wednesday morning, Mexican authorities said. They were taken to the department of social services, where they were fed, officials said.(Photo: Courtesy Juárez Police Department)

Juárez police stopped a group of five Guatemalan migrants from crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso early Wednesday morning, officials said.

The action comes after four people died while attempting to cross the river Monday and Tuesday — the same time that first responders in El Paso rescued several others from the fast-moving currents. Several of those people also are believed to be from Guatemala.

Juárez police early Wednesday saw for people, one carrying a toddler, walking at the edge of the river bank in the Fidel Velázquez neighborhood roughly in the area across from Ascarate Park.

Mexican authorities said they will continue monitoring the river banks and informing migrants of the dangers of hiring smugglers and crossing the river or dry desert, as well as advising them of their rights.

Juárez police stopped a group of five Guatemalans from crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso early Wednesday morning. The migrants were muddied and hungry, officials said.(Photo: Courtesy Juárez Police Department)

Earlier this week, the El Paso Fire Department and the U.S. Border Patrol recovered three bodies from the river and rescued six people who were swept away in the currents. A seventh person was rescued by Mexican officials on the Juárez side of the river. One of the people rescued in El Paso later died in an area hospital.

Among them were a group of migrants from Guatemala, including a 14-year-old girl whose twin sister was found aimlessly roaming the streets in Juárez.

Border Patrol agents have conducted about 40 water rescues and recovered about 10 bodies from the river or adjacent canals in El Paso sector so far this year, officials said. That is a significant increase from 2016, in which there were six deaths and about 30 water rescues all year.